by Arphir of Axis [Dark Iron]

Overview

The most fearsome Gronn alive, Gruul the Dragonkiller has seven sons who roam Outland.

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Abilities

HP: 3,400,000

Melee: Hits initially for about 3,200 on plate.

Growth: Every 30 seconds, Gruul will grow larger, increasing his damage done by 15%.

Reverberation: Periodically silences the entire raid for 4 seconds.

Hurtful Strike: Every 20 seconds or so, Gruuil will target the second highest aggro player in his melee range, and attack them for 12,350-13,650 physical damage. The damage done by this ability is affected by Gruul’s Growth. This ability cannot crit or crush.

Cave In: Targets the ground beneath a random player’s feet and deals 2,700 damage every 3 seconds for 15 seconds to anyone within 8 yards of that location. This damage is affected by Gruul’s Growth. Cave Ins occur more frequently as the fight progresses.

Ground Slam/Shatter: Gruul will periodically pound the ground with his fists, sending every player in the raid flying in a random direction. After landing again, players will be afflicted with the debuff Gronn Lord’s Grasp, which slows movement by an additional 20% every second. After 5 seconds, the player will be afflicted with the “Stoned” debuff and be unable to move. Gruul will then cast Shatter, damaging all players for an amount based on their proximity to other people. The closer two players stand to each other, the more damage they cause each other to take. Two players standing in the exact same spot will cause each other to take 9,000 damage, but two players standing 15 yards away from each other will only cause 70 damage to each other. It is possible to take Shatter damage from multiple sources if multiple players are standing within 15 yards of you. Shatter damage is not affected by Gruul’s Growth.

Preparation

Raid composition

2 Tanks

3-4 Melee DPS

8 Healers

11-12 Ranged DPS

Positioning

Gruul is tanked roughly in the center of his room, with ranged DPS and healers standing at their maximum range.

Assignments

The following macro can be used to assign the roles in your raid.

/rw — INC ASSIGNMENTS –

/raid MT [1 Tank] – Healers: [4 Healers]

/raid Off Tank [1 Tank] – Healers: [2 Healers]

/raid Raid Healing: [2 Healers]

On the pull

The entire raid should stand just inside the entrance to Gruul’s room. The fight is initiated when the Main Tank runs toward Gruul; the rest of the raid should then assume their required positions. A gate will fall, closing off the only exit from the room; players who were not standing inside before the encounter was initiated will be unable to participate in the fight.

Phase 1

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Tanks The Main Tank and Offtank both build threat on Gruul in a stationary position. The Main Tank should aim to be #1 on threat; the Offtank must exceed the threat of all other melee players in the raid.

If there are additional warriors in the raid, they should Intervene the Main Tank whenever it’s up to reduce the severity of the spike damage he takes.

Healers The Main Tank will take a small amount of damage at first, but it will increase with every Growth. The Offtank will occasionally take a large amount of damage from Hurtful Strike. When Gruul is about to silence the raid with Reverberate (boss timer mods such as Deadly Boss Mods can approximate when this will happen), make sure to apply all your HoTs on the main tank; you will be silenced for the next 4 seconds, and unable to use direct heals.

When Ground Slam sends you flying, immediately search for a nearby area of the cave which is unoccupied. If you are healing the Main Tank, try to find an area that’s not too far from your healing range. Whatever you do, don’t stand too close to another player, or you’ll both die!

The raid will inevitably take some damage from Cave Ins and the Ground Slam/Shatter combo, but most of this damage should be avoidable with practice. Try to make sure the raid is at full health before a Ground Slam.

DPS Ranged DPS may generate more threat than the Offtank; Melee DPS may not, or they will be targeted by Hurtful Strike. Gruul is typically killed within 15 Growths; after that, his damage output becomes too much even for a very well geared tank to withstand.

When Ground Slam sends you flying, immediately search for a nearby area of the cave which is unoccupied. If you are ranged DPS, the best choice is usually to move all the way to the wall of the cave. Above all else, make sure you aren’t standing close to another member of the raid, otherwise Ground Slam will kill you both!

Continue damaging Gruul until he’s dead. Congratulations!